1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an object management system to manage an object in a virtual space by using a computer.
2. Description of the Related Arts
In a game or a chat program, processing for setting a virtual space to operate a variety of objects allocated in this virtual space is occasionally carried out. For example, in a game such as a network game having a plurality of participants, individual players share information in the virtual space as a game space to participate in this virtual space as a player object. Then, for example, players carry out an operation to obtain the object of an item (item object) allocated in a position in the virtual space and also the operation of an attack to other player objects.
On this occasion, the position and attribute information of individual objects in the virtual space is managed by a computer operating as an object management device.
However, in recent years, the quality of content of an application such as a game using the virtual space has become higher, and the number of objects allocated in the virtual space has increased. On the other hand, for example, in the case where the object of a user moves to the position where the object of an item is allocated, and control is carried out such as obtaining the item object, the object of the user knows which item object is in a near place by supplying a query about the item object existing around the object of the user to the object management device managing the objects in the virtual space. In addition, if required, the object management device executes the processing, which is exemplified by removing the item object and adding the attribute to a user's object, of mutual actions between objects. Alternatively, the object management device occasionally executes the detection of a collision between moving objects existing in the virtual space and the process of a collision notification to the object for which the collision is detected. In these processing operations, an increased number of objects and a widened virtual space to be managed increase frequency of the processing and a calculation time necessary for the processing which makes managing the object in the virtual space by one object management device difficult.
Thus, for example, it is assumed that a plurality of object management devices manage different species of objects by dispersing them. On this occasion, for example, as known from the example as described above, when the user's object executes the processing to obtain the item object, it is necessary to perform mutual communication of information for comparison of the position of the user's object with the position of the item object between the plurality of object management devices managing each of the user's object and the item object. As described above, in the case of managing by dispersing using the plurality of object management devices, as a rule the processing becomes complex. On the other hand, in an application, in which the object moves frequently in the virtual space, on each occasion of object movements, it becomes necessary to search the object management device managing the region to which the object moved, which generally tends to make the processing for the search complex.